Lunar Eclipse 25 April 2013

On 25 April 2013 at 19:57UT, there will be a partial lunar eclipse. This eclipse belongs to Saros series nr. 112, which was born on 20 May 1859 and will last until 12 July 2139.

The graphic below shows the visibility of this lunar eclipse.

(click on image to enlarge)

(via http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2013-Fig01.pdf)

Astrologically speaking, the Moon will be in 05° 45’ Scorpio, opposing the Sun in 05° 45’ Taurus. The eclipsed Moon will be conjunct Saturn and the Sun will be conjunct Mars. Furthermore Mars will be conjunct fixed star Sheratan and the Ascendant will be conjunct fixed star Zuben Elgenubi, the Southern Claw of the Scorpion.

The chart below, cast for the location of London, shows the event:

(click on image to enlarge)

William Lilly tells us in his pamphlet on the judgment of the effects of solar and lunar eclipses:

“For when the place Eclipsed, or Eclipse itself, shall be in the Ascendant, the effects shall then begin in the 1, 2, 3, and 4. moneth next after the appearance of the Eclips, …”

To find out about the possible effects of this eclipse, we can turn to William Lilly again. He writes in his Annus Tenebrosus, or The Dark Year about a lunar eclipse with the Moon in the first Decanate of Scorpio, ruled by Mars:

“terrible Thunders, fearful Lightnings, many times Earthquakes, aboundance of destructive creatures in the waters.”.

Regular readers of my web log may also remember that I wrote in my article about the 2013 Aries ingress that, according to Bonatti, during the months after the Sun enters Aries,we could see “an abundance of waters or rains, and the increase of rivers and streams, and their flooding; the increase of cold.”

For more on the 2013 Aries Ingress, read my web log entry, here:

2013 Aries Ingress

A look at the map, showing the eclipse’s path of angularity, reveals that the Moon is close to the Ascendant during the eclipse in the region of the United Kingdom.

(click on image to enlarge)

Mars is ruler of the first Decanate of Scorpio, who is also Ascendant ruler, and also tightly opposing the eclipsed Moon. He is therefore of major importance, playing a key role at the time of the lunar eclipse. We can as well see that retrograde Saturn is conjunct the Moon, which highlights that both, greater and lesser malefic, are involved in this lunar eclipse.

Lilly says about Mars being the governor of an eclipse:

“[h]ee generally is the cause of corruption … he stirs up Wars, Seditions, intestine risings and tumults, imprisonment, banishment, … popular tumults, … moreover he portends Tertian Feavers, acute diseases, corruption of blood … In the ayr he stirs up extraordinary soultry blasts and great heat, … thunder, lightning, whirl-winds, immeasurable droughts. … Usually he excites mens minds to great rashness and fool-hardiness.”

I have already mentioned that the Ascendant will be conjunct fixed star Zuben Elgenubi, the Southern Claw of the Scorpion. This is a malevolent star of the nature of Saturn and Mars and it is associated with misfortune, treachery and sickness.

Also Mars will be conjunct fixed star Sheratan, in the “left Horn of the Ram.” In keeping with the nature of Mars and Saturn, it is associated with violence. Danger can come to those who act in a reckless, impetuous or careless manner.

Diana Rosenberg writes in her excellent Secrets of the ancient Skies about the Arabic Manzil al-Sharatain and the fixed star Sheratan, which is this lunar mansion’s determinant:

“Al-Sharatain was said to produce “whirlwinds” (tornadoes?); these stars were transited … in 1991 when several twisters, … reamed “Tornado Alley” from Wichita, KS to Red Rock, OK; in 1935 when a Category 5 hurricane hit the Florida Keys, [and] in 1996: the Mt Everest disaster: climbers descending from the summit were caught in a storm.” (SAS vol1, p144)

To find out about the duration of the effects the Lunar eclipse may have, we can turn to Lilly once more:

“[i]n an Eclipse of the Moon, so many hours as she is defective or suffers an Eclipse, so many moneths the Events thereby signified shall continue.”

In this case the lunar eclipse will last just over four hours and therefore we can expect the effects to last until the end of August 2013.

For readers, interested in the personal implications of this eclipse, it might be of interest what William Lilly has to say:

“… Eclipse is more dangerous or pernitious which shall be in the Horoscope or Ascendant of the birth; or which shall be in the degree Ascending in an Annuall Revolution: it portends unto the Native some ominous and mischievous action as unto his body and also in his vital substance.”

And further on:

“… who had in the Radix of his Nativity either the Sun or the Moon in that degree, or in the degree opposite … or in the like degrees … which signs are in Quadrate aspects to the former, or if the degree Culminating in any man’s Nativity was either [the degree of the eclipse or its opposite or square] or within one degree therof, the native did suffer more or less by the influence of this Eclips; according to the signification of the House of Heaven, wherein the Sun or the Moon was in at the Birth, and was either well fortified or aspected of the benevolent Planets, or ill aspected, or afflicted of the Malevolents.”

For this particular lunar eclipse that means that people with Scorpio or Taurus rising, either in their birth chart or in their Solar return chart for 2013, will feel the influence stronger than others. Furthermore it should be noted if natal Sun or Moon are conjunct the eclipse point. If it should be the case that one or even more of these factors apply, an in-depth reading of the native’s charts may be necessary to find out which particular areas of life are likely to be affected the most.

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UPDATE: My colleague Helen Beers writes about her experiences regarding the eclipse here:

The Alchemical Crow and the Lunar Eclipse 25th April 2013